Police crackdown on protesters in Algerian capital

Baton-wielding police have broken up a protest in Algiers, cracking down on demonstrators vowing to keep up the movement that has rocked Algeria for nearly a year.

According to reports, police charged a group of several dozen people chanting slogans, after demonstrators were blocked from gathering at the central Algiers rallying point of the weekly protest marches, now in their 47th week.

"Civil state, not military state," shouted the protesters, a week after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced the formation of a new government.

Police had been deployed in force in the center of the capital, and several protesters were arrested on Friday, according to witnesses.

"The Hirak (protest movement) must continue until the complete removal of the 'gang' — these traitors who sold out the country and hurt the future of our youth," said protester Farida Loukam.

A former prime minister under ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned in April 2019 under pressure from the street, 74-year-old Tebboune was elected president on December 12 after a vote marked by record abstention and boycotted by the protest movement.

SS